<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><htmlxmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"xml:lang="en"lang="en"><head><metahttp-equiv="Content-Type"content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/><title>PyObjC NEWS</title></head><body><h2>PyObjC NEWS</h2><p>An overview of the relevant changes in new, and older, releases.</p><h2><aname="version-1-3-6-2005-05-19">Version 1.3.6 (2005-05-19)</a></h2><ul><li>Fixed bugs in the ProgressViewPalette example</li><li>Fixed a bug in the class builder that caused most plugins to break</li><li>Removed all references to Project Builder</li><li>Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) no longer supported</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-3-5-2005-05-18">Version 1.3.5 (2005-05-18)</a></h2><ul><li>Importing objc now ensures that Foundation is multi-threaded, previously
it only ensured that Python was.</li><li>New <code><span>objc.RegisterCFSignature</span></code> used to register <code><span>CFTypeRef</span></code>-like
signatures with the runtime.</li><li><code><span>PyObjCTools.Conversion</span></code> functions now support all property list
types with the following conversions:<ul><li>NSData &lt;-&gt; buffer</li><li>NSDecimalNumber &lt;-&gt; decimal.Decimal (if present)</li><li>NSDate &lt;-&gt; datetime.datetime</li></ul><p>New <code><span>toPythonDecimal</span></code>, <code><span>fromPythonDecimal</span></code> functions which convert
between NSDecimalNumber and decimal.Decimal using an intermediate string.</p><p>New <code><span>serializePropertyList</span></code> and <code><span>deserializePropertyList</span></code> functions
which serialize (Objective-C) property lists to and from NSData.</p></li><li><code><span>OC_PythonObject</span></code>, the proxy for Python objects that do not have
an Objective-C superclass and are not otherwise special-cased, now
act slightly more like typical Objective-C objects (supporting
<code><span>-isEqual:</span></code>, <code><span>-hash</span></code>, and <code><span>-compare:</span></code>). This allows them
to work with Key-Value Coding if they are contained by an Objective-C
object, among other things.</li><li>New objc.signature decorator that allows easier specification of
objc.selector wrappers for functions when using Python 2.4:<pre>@objc.signature('i@:if')
def methodWithX_andY_(self, x, y):
return 0
</pre></li><li><code><span>PyObjCTools.KeyValueCoding.getKeyPath</span></code> now supports all of the
Array Operators supported by Mac OS X 10.4.</li><li>Key-Value Coding of Python objects (whether or not using an Objective-C
base class) should act like Objective-C now. In previous versions
there were inconsistencies with the use of capitalization, the
underscore postfix in setters, and Key-Value Observation.</li><li>The formal protocol list is now complete. A new internal function,
<code><span>objc.protocolsForProcess()</span></code> enumerates over all mach
headers and returns all of the protocols defined in the expected
place. This fixes the scenario where an application uses a
protocol but does not define any classes that
conform to that protocol (i.e. to check plugin conformity).
Previously it was not possible to reach these protocols simply by
walking over all of the classes.</li><li>A special value, <code><span>objc.NULL</span></code>, may now be passed in the place
of 'in' and 'inout' arguments. This tells the bridge to pass
a NULL pointer to the Objective-C method, instead of a pointer
to the value. The return value will still be a tuple of the
expected size.</li><li>Some of the new Tiger frameworks now have wrappers:<ul><li><code><span>AppleScriptKit</span></code></li><li><code><span>Automator</span></code></li><li><code><span>CoreData</span></code></li><li><code><span>DiscRecording</span></code></li><li><code><span>DiscRecordingUI</span></code></li><li><code><span>OSAKit</span></code></li><li><code><span>Quartz</span></code></li><li><code><span>QTKit</span></code></li><li><code><span>SyncServices</span></code></li><li><code><span>XgridFoundation</span></code></li></ul><p>Documentation and tests not yet written.</p></li><li>New <code><span>OutlineEditor</span></code> example in <code><span>Examples/CoreData</span></code>,
it is a Python version of the identically named Apple example.</li><li>The last argument of selectors that end with ':error:' is now
assumed to be 'out' if its type is an object pointer.</li><li>More conveniences for <code><span>list</span></code>-like and <code><span>dict</span></code>-like
objects: <code><span>__reversed__</span></code>, <code><span>reverse</span></code>, <code><span>pop</span></code>,
<code><span>remove</span></code>, <code><span>fromkeys</span></code>.</li><li><code><span>OC_PythonDictionary</span></code> and <code><span>OC_PythonArray</span></code> now return
<code><span>NSNull</span></code> to Objective-C callers as appropriate.</li><li>New <code><span>WebKitInterpreter</span></code> example in <code><span>Examples/Plugins</span></code>.
Uses the new WebKit Cocoa plugin API available in Safari 1.3
and later to embed a PyInterpreter in the browser.</li><li>Fixed a <code><span>CFBundleRef</span></code> reference counting bug in
<code><span>Foundation._Foundation</span></code>. The symptom of this is usually
a crashing application after having loaded a PyObjC-based
plugin into an otherwise Objective-C app.</li><li>New <code><span>PyObjCTools.AppHelper</span></code> functions: <code><span>callAfter</span></code> and
<code><span>callLater</span></code>, conveniences for calling Python functions on
the main thread as soon as possible, or after a delay.</li><li>Twisted examples changed to use <code><span>threadedselectreactor</span></code>instead of <code><span>cfreactor</span></code>. <code><span>cfreactor</span></code> is deprecated.
Needs Twisted newer than 2.0 (svn r13575 or later).</li><li><code><span>objc.inject</span></code> now injects on main thread by default,
and takes an optional third <code><span>useMainThread</span></code> argument
to change this behavior. This is a complete rewrite
which should be correct, stable, Tiger compatible,
and synchronized with mach_* 1.1.</li><li>Removed an <code><span>NSAutoreleasePool</span></code> category hack that has
been deprecated for quite some time.</li><li>New <code><span>objc.removeAutoreleasePool</span></code> function that will remove
PyObjC's global <code><span>NSAutoreleasePool</span></code>, which may be useful
for plugins.</li><li>Fixed bug in the <code><span>NSBundle</span></code> hack that caused a <code><span>NULL</span></code>pointer dereference if looking up a non-existent class using
<code><span>NSBundle</span></code> API.</li><li>Added <code><span>OC_PythonUnicode</span></code> and <code><span>OC_PythonString</span></code> classes that
preserve the identity of <code><span>str</span></code> and <code><span>unicode</span></code> objects across
the bridge. The bridge for <code><span>str</span></code> now uses the default
encoding of <code><span>NSString</span></code>, rather than <code><span>sys.getdefaultencoding()</span></code>from Python. For Mac OS X, this is typically MacRoman. The reason
for this is that not all Python <code><span>str</span></code> instances could cross the
bridge at all previously. <code><span>objc.setStrBridgeEnabled(False)</span></code> will
still trigger warnings, if you are attempting to track down an
encoding bug. However, the symptoms of the bug will be incorrectly
encoded text, not an exception.</li><li>New Xcode project template &quot;PyObjC Mixed Application&quot; that is
a py2app based Python application that loads an Objective-C
plug-in built as a separate target.</li><li>New py2app based Xcode templates &quot;PyObjC Application&quot; and
&quot;PyObjC Document-based Application&quot;, these replace the
older &quot;Cocoa-Python Application&quot; and
&quot;Cocoa-Python Document-based Application&quot; respectively.</li><li>New <code><span>InjectBrowser</span></code> example in <code><span>Examples/Inject</span></code> that demonstrates
injection of the <code><span>ClassBrowser</span></code> example into another application using
<code><span>objc.inject</span></code>.</li><li><code><span>NSData</span></code> and <code><span>NSMutableData</span></code> instances now support the Python buffer
protocol.</li><li><code><span>NSData</span></code> instances now support a convenience API that allow them to
act like a <code><span>buffer</span></code> instance for <code><span>str()</span></code> and slicing.</li><li>Objects that support the Python buffer protocol, such as <code><span>buffer</span></code> and
<code><span>array.array</span></code> (but not <code><span>str</span></code> or <code><span>unicode</span></code>) are now bridged as
<code><span>NSData</span></code> subclasses.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-3-2005-03-31">Version 1.3 (2005-03-31)</a></h2><ul><li>New <code><span>objc.pyobjc_id</span></code> function that returns a the id of the underlying
NSObject as an integer. (Python wrapper objects are often made on the
fly, meaning <code><span>id(obj)</span></code> is not constant during the lifetime of the
object.)</li><li>The bridge now maintains object identity across the bridge
in both directions. Previous versions of the bridge only did this when
bridging from Objective-C to Python.<p>Exceptions: <code><span>NSString</span></code> and <code><span>NSNumber</span></code> do not have unique proxies. These
types are converted to subclasses of Python types as appropriate, so they
can not have unique proxies. The identity of the original Objective-C
object is maintained by these subclasses, but there may be many Python
&quot;value proxies&quot; for a single Objective-C object.</p><p>Any Python object that is proxied using the <code><span>__pyobjc_object__</span></code>interface will only get a unique proxy if the <code><span>__pyobjc_object__</span></code>method implements that feature.</p></li><li>New <code><span>objc.protocolsForClass</span></code> function that returns a list of protocols
that the class directly claims to conform to.</li><li>PyObjC classes can now declare that they implement formal protocols,
for example:<pre>class MyLockingClass(NSObject, objc.protocolNamed('NSLocking')):
# implementation
pass
</pre><p>It is also possible to define new protocols:</p><pre>MyProtocol = objc.formal_protocol(&quot;MyProtocol&quot;, None, [
selector(None, selector='mymethod', signature='v@:'),
])
</pre><p>All formal protocols are instances of <code><span>objc.formal_protocol</span></code>.</p></li><li>PyObjCTools.KeyValueCoding has a new <code><span>kvc</span></code> class that allows
Pythonic Key-Value Coding.<ul><li><code><span>__getitem__</span></code> is mapped to <code><span>valueForKeyPath:</span></code></li><li><code><span>__setitem__</span></code> is mapped to <code><span>setValue:forKeyPath:</span></code></li><li><code><span>__getattr__</span></code> is mapped to <code><span>valueForKey:</span></code></li><li><code><span>__setattr__</span></code> is mapped to <code><span>setValue:forKey:</span></code></li></ul><p>The <code><span>kvc</span></code> class uses <code><span>__pyobjc_object__</span></code>, so it may cross the bridge
as the wrapped object.</p></li><li><code><span>NSNumber</span></code> instances are bridged to a <code><span>float</span></code>, <code><span>long</span></code>, or <code><span>int</span></code>subclass that uses <code><span>__pyobjc_object__</span></code>.
<code><span>NSDecimal</span></code> is converted to <code><span>NSDecimalNumber</span></code> when used as an object,
<code><span>NSDecimalNumber</span></code> is not bridged to <code><span>NSDecimal</span></code> because the latter is
a mutable type.</li><li>The Python to Objective-C bridge now looks for a <code><span>__pyobjc_object__</span></code>attribute to get a PyObjC object from a Python object.</li><li>New IDNSnitch example in Inject that demonstrates how to write an
monitor for the launch of another application,
use <code><span>objc.inject</span></code> to load code into a target process,
and override the implementation of an existing method but still
call back into the original implementation (method swizzling).</li><li><code><span>objc.IMP</span></code> should do the right thing now. This type is returned
by <code><span>+[NSObject</span><span>methodForSelector:]</span></code> and
<code><span>+[NSObject</span><span>instanceMethodForSelector:]</span></code></li><li>New ToDos example in CocoaBindings that demonstrates how to use
two array controllers for the same data, and how to use value
transformers to alter the color of text. Originally from
&quot;Cocoa Bindings Examples and Hints&quot;, converted to PyObjC by u.fiedler.</li><li>New Bookmarks example in CocoaBindings that demonstrates how to
subclass <code><span>NSArrayController</span></code> to implement the <code><span>NSTableView</span></code>delegate drag and drop protocol, including copying of objects between
documents and accepting URL drops from other applications. Also
demonstrates re-ordering of the content array. Originally from
&quot;Cocoa Bindings Examples and Hints&quot;, converted to PyObjC by u.fiedler.</li><li>New FilteringController example in CocoaBindings that demonstrates
how to subclass <code><span>NSArrayController</span></code> to implement filtering
of a <code><span>NSTableView</span></code>. Also demonstrates the use of indexed accessors.
Originally from &quot;Cocoa Bindings Examples and Hints&quot;, converted to PyObjC
by u.fiedler.</li><li>New ControlledPreferences example in CocoaBindings that demonstrates
how to use Cocoa Bindings to simplify storing and retrieving user
preferences. Originally from &quot;Cocoa Bindings Examples and Hints&quot;,
converted to PyObjC by u.fiedler.</li><li>New TemperatureTransformer example in CocoaBindings that demonstrates
how to use NSValueTransfomers with PyObjC. Based on Apple's
&quot;Cocoa: Value Transformers&quot; documentation, converted to PyObjC
by u.fiedler.</li><li>New CurrencyConvBindings example in CocoaBindings that demonstrates
a Cocoa Bindings enabled version of the CurrencyConverter example.
Converted to PyObjC by u.fiedler from the example in Apple's
&quot;Introduction to Developing Cocoa Applications Using Bindings&quot;.</li><li>New ManualBindings example in CocoaBindings that demonstrates how
to develop programmatic bindings from a PyObjC application.
Converted to PyObjC by u.fiedler from the &quot;Cocoa Bindings and Hints&quot;example of the same name.</li><li>New HotKeyPython example in AppKit that demonstrates how to use
Carbon global hot keys from a PyObjC application. Also demonstrates
how to use a NSApplication subclass.</li><li>Key-Value Observing support is now automatic in Python classes that
descend from <code><span>NSObject</span></code>, unless they implement a custom
<code><span>willChangeValueForKey:</span></code>, <code><span>didChangeValueForKey:</span></code>, or
<code><span>__useKVO__</span></code> is not True. This allows <code><span>self.foo</span><span>=</span><span>1</span></code> to
automatically trigger notifications. This works in all cases,
whether <code><span>foo</span></code> is a <code><span>property</span></code>, <code><span>ivar</span></code>, or just in the
<code><span>__dict__</span></code>.</li><li>New Inject folder in Examples, with an InjectInterpreter
example that will inject a GUI Python interpreter into any process.</li><li>New <code><span>objc.inject()</span></code> function for Mac OS X 10.3 and later,
allows an arbitrary bundle to be loaded into another process
using mach_inject.</li><li><code><span>objc.classAddMethods</span></code> now recognizes and supports
classmethods.</li><li>GC is now correctly implemented for struct wrappers.</li><li>The <code><span>NSNumber</span></code> bridge has been removed, now you will get
<code><span>NSNumber</span></code> instances across the bridge instead of a
Python representation.</li><li><code><span>PyObjCTools.AppHelper.runEventLoop()</span></code> will now bring your
application to the front at startup when using pdb
mode for convenience.</li><li><code><span>objc.loadBundle()</span></code> no longer filters the class list. This
solves a few potential issues and shaves off about 1/3rd of
the overhead of <code><span>python</span><span>-c</span><span>&quot;import</span><span>AppKit&quot;</span></code>.</li><li><code><span>PyObjCTools.AppHelper.runEventLoop()</span></code> no longer breaks on
pure Objective-C exceptions. Most exceptions of this variety
are more like warnings, and there is nothing that can be done
them anyway.</li><li><code><span>PyObjCTools.AppHelper.runEventLoop()</span></code> now installs the
interrupt handler and verbose exception logging when using pdb,
either explicitly or by the USE_PDB environment variable.</li><li>There is now a fast path for the <code><span>NSString</span></code>/<code><span>unicode</span></code>bridge when <code><span>Py_UNICODE_SIZE</span></code> is 2. This is the default
setting for Python.</li><li>The default selector signature will have a void return value
unless a &quot;return&quot; statement with an argument is used in the
bytecode. In that case, it will default to an object return
value.</li><li><code><span>__bundle_hack__</span></code> is no longer necessary, py2app now sets
a different environment variable to the current plugin during
execution, and a hack is installed to <code><span>NSBundle</span></code> so that classes
may respond to requests for their bundle with the <code><span>+bundleForClass</span></code>method. The class builder adds a default implementation of this to
Python classes if this environment variable is set.</li><li>Added <code><span>objc.currentBundle()</span></code>, which is equivalent to
<code><span>NSBundle.mainBundle()</span></code> except after loading a plug-in.
Makes it easier to load nib files.</li><li><code><span>PyObjCTools.NibClassBuilder.extractClasses()</span></code> now uses
<code><span>objc.currentBundle()</span></code> instead of <code><span>NSBundle.mainBundle()</span></code>. This
makes plugins less of a hassle to develop and allows identical code
to be used for application or plugin development.</li><li><code><span>objc.registerPlugin()</span></code> and <code><span>objc.pluginBundle()</span></code> are now deprecated
as they are no longer useful.</li><li>It is now possible to subclass a class that implements <code><span>copyWithZone:</span></code>without setting <code><span>__slots__</span></code> to <code><span>()</span></code>.</li><li>It is now possible to override <code><span>dealloc</span></code>. It is still possible to
define <code><span>__del__</span></code>.</li><li>As an experimental feature it is also possible to override <code><span>retain</span></code> and
<code><span>release</span></code>. Note it almost never a good idea to do this (even when you're
programming in Objective-C and much more so in Python).</li><li><code><span>poseAsClass:</span></code> can be used, although it is not very useful in python, use
categories instead.<p>A major issue with <code><span>poseAsClass:</span></code> is that existing references to the old
version of the class won't be changed to point to the new class.</p></li><li>It is now possible to access all instance variables of a class using
the functions <code><span>objc.listInstanceVariables(aClassOrInstance)</span></code>,
<code><span>objc.getInstanceVariable(obj,</span><span>name)</span></code> and
<code><span>objc.setInstanceVariable(obj,</span><span>name,</span><span>value</span><span>[,</span><span>updateRefCount])</span></code>.<p>The last argument of <code><span>setInstanceVariable</span></code> is required when the instance
variable is an object. If it is true the bridge will update reference counts,
otherwise it won't.</p></li><li>All wrappers for opaque pointers (such as <code><span>NSZone*</span></code>) now have the same
interface and share a single implementation. This decreases code-size and
makes it easier to add new wrappers. A new feature is a <code><span>__typestr__</span></code>attribute on the type object, this contains the encoded Objective-C type
of the pointer.<p>A function for creating new wrappers is exposed to python, as
<code><span>objc.createOpaquePointerType(name,</span><span>typestr,</span><span>doc)</span></code>. The same function is
also exposed in the C-API.</p></li><li>Wrappers for C-structs how have a <code><span>__typestr__</span></code> attribute on their type.
This attribute contains the encoded Objective-C type of the struct.<p>The default <code><span>__init__</span></code> for struct-wrappers now initializes fields with an
appropriate default value, instead of <code><span>None</span></code>.</p><p>New wrappers can now be created from Python using the function
<code><span>objc.createStructType(name,</span><span>typestr,</span><span>fieldnames,</span><span>doc)</span></code>. The same
function is also exposed in the C API (and has been for a while).</p></li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-2-2004-12-29">Version 1.2 (2004-12-29)</a></h2><ul><li><code><span>PyObjCTools.AppHelper.stopEventLoop</span></code> will attempt to stop the current
<code><span>NSRunLoop</span></code> (if started by <code><span>runConsoleEventLoop</span></code>) or terminate the
current <code><span>NSApplication</span></code> (which may or may not have been started by
<code><span>runEventLoop</span></code>).</li><li>This version no longer support Python 2.2. Python 2.3 or later is
required.</li><li>It is now possible to use <code><span>reload</span></code> on modules containing Objective-C
classes.</li><li><code><span>objc.loadBundle</span></code> now returns bundle we just loaded.</li><li>Added <code><span>objc.loadBundleVariables</span></code> and <code><span>objc.loadBundleFunctions</span></code>,
two functions for reading global variables and functions from a bundle.</li><li>objc.runtime will now raise AttributeError instead of objc.nosuchclass_error
when a class is not found.</li><li>objc.Category can be used to define categories on existing classes:<pre>class NSObject (objc.Category(NSObject)):
def myMethod(self):
pass
</pre><p>This adds method <code><span>myMethod</span></code> to class NSObject.</p></li><li><code><span>py2app</span></code> is now used for all Example scripts and is the recommended method
for creating PyObjC applications.</li><li>Proxies of dict, list, and tuple now respect the invariant that you should
get an identical instance if you ask for the same thing twice and the
collection has not been mutated. This fixes some problems with binary
plist serialization, and potentially some edge cases elsewhere.</li><li>There is now a <code><span>__bundle_hack__</span></code> class attribute that will cause the PyObjC
class builder to use a statically allocated class wrapper if one is
available via certain environment variables. This functionality is used
to enable +[NSBundle bundleForClass:] to work for exactly one class from
a py2app-created plugin bundle.</li><li>We now have a working Interface Builder palette example due to
<code><span>__bundle__hack__</span></code>.</li><li><code><span>bool(NSNull.null())</span></code> is now false.</li><li><code><span>setup.py</span></code> supports several new commands:<blockquote><p>build_libffi:</p><blockquote><p>builds libffi (used by build_ext)</p></blockquote><dl><dt>build_html:</dt><dd><p>builds html documentation from ReST source</p></dd><dt>bdist_dmg:</dt><dd><p>creates a disk image with the binary installer</p></dd><dt>bdist_mpkg:</dt><dd><p>creates a binary installer</p></dd><dt>test:</dt><dd><p>runs unit test suite (replaces Scripts/runPyObjCTests
and Scripts/runalltests)</p></dd></dl></blockquote></li><li><code><span>PyObjCStrBridgeWarning</span></code> can now be generated when Python <code><span>str</span></code> objects
cross the bridge by calling <code><span>objc.setStrBridgeEnabled(False)</span></code>. It is
HIGHLY recommended that your application never send <code><span>str</span></code> objects over
the bridge, as it is likely to cause problems due to the required
coercion to unicode.</li><li>The coercion bridge from Python to Objective-C instances can now be
augmented from Python as it is exposed by <code><span>OC_PythonObject</span></code>. See
<code><span>objc._bridges</span></code>. This is how the <code><span>str</span></code> -&gt;<code><span>unicode</span></code> -&gt;<code><span>NSString</span></code>bridge with optional warnings is implemented.</li><li>The coercion bridge between Python objects and Objective-C structures
can now be augmented from Python as it is exposed by <code><span>OC_PythonObject</span></code>.
See <code><span>objc._bridges</span></code>. This is how the <code><span>Carbon.File.FSRef</span></code>&lt;-&gt;<code><span>'{FSRef=[80c]}'</span></code> structure bridge is implemented.</li><li>Extension modules such as <code><span>_objc</span></code>, <code><span>_AppKit</span></code>, etc. are now inside
packages as <code><span>objc._objc</span></code>, <code><span>AppKit._AppKit</span></code>, etc. They should never be
used directly, so this should not break user code.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-1-2004-05-30">Version 1.1 (2004-05-30)</a></h2><ul><li>KVO now actually works from Python without using nasty hacks.</li><li>Added Xcode template for document-based applications</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-1b2-2004-04-11">Version 1.1b2 (2004-04-11)</a></h2><ul><li>More fine-grained multi-threading support</li><li>Xcode templates use a smarter embedded main program</li><li>Add support for WebObjects 4.5 (a one-line patch!)</li><li>Add a PackageManager clone to the Examples directory</li><li>Add better support for NSProxy<p>This makes it possible to use at Distributed Objects, although this
feature has not received much testing</p></li><li>Function 'objc.protocolNamed' is the Python equivalent of the @protocol
expression in Objective-C.</li><li>Add several new examples</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-1b1-2004-02-20">Version 1.1b1 (2004-02-20)</a></h2><ul><li>Fixes some regressions in 1.1 w.r.t. 1.0</li><li>Add Xcode templates for python files<p>You can now select a new python file in the 'add file...' dialog in Xcode</p></li><li>Fix installer for Panther: the 1.1a0 version didn't behave correctly</li><li>There is now an easier way to define methods that conform to the expectations
of Cocoa bindings:<pre>class MyClass (NSObject):
def setSomething_(self, value):
pass
setSomething_ = objc.accessor(setSomething_)
def something(self):
return &quot;something!&quot; something = objc.accessor(something)
</pre><p>It is not necessary to use <code><span>objc.accessor</span></code> when overriding an existing
accessor method.</p></li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-1a0-2004-02-02">Version 1.1a0 (2004-02-02)</a></h2><ul><li>Objective-C structs can now be wrapped using struct-like types. This has
been used to implement wrapper types for NSPoint, NSSize, NSRange and NSRect
in Foundation and NSAffineTransformStruct in AppKit.<p>This means you can now access the x-coordinate of a point as <code><span>aPoint.x</span></code>,
accessing <code><span>aPoint[0]</span></code> is still supported for compatibility with older
versions of PyObjC.</p><p>It is still allowed to use tuples, or other sequences, to represent
Objective-C structs.</p><p>NOTE: This has two side-effects that may require changes in your programs:
the values of the types mentioned above are no longer immutable and cannot
be used as keys in dicts or elements in sets. Another side-effect is that
a pickle containing these values created using this version of PyObjC cannot
be unpickled on older versions of PyObjC.</p></li><li>This version adds support for NSDecimal. This is a fixed-point type defined
in Cocoa.</li><li>NSDecimalNumbers are no longer converted to floats, that would loose
information.</li><li>If an Objective-C method name is a Python keyword you can now access it
by appending two underscores to its name, e.g. someObject.class__().<p>The same is true for defining methods, if you define a method <code><span>raise__</span></code> in
a subclass of NSObject it will registered with the runtime as <code><span>raise</span></code>.</p><p>NOTE: Currently only <code><span>class</span></code> and <code><span>raise</span></code> are treated like this, because
those are the only Python keywords that are actually used as Objective-C
method names.</p></li><li>Experimental support for <code><span>instanceMethodForSelector:</span></code> and
<code><span>methodForSelector:</span></code>.
This support is not 100% stable, and might change in the future.</li><li>Backward incompatible change: class methods are no longer callable through
the instances.</li><li>Integrates full support for MacOS X 10.3 (aka Panther)</li><li>Adds a convenience/wrapper module for SecurityInterface</li><li>It is now safe to call from Objective-C to Python in arbitrary threads, but
only when using Python 2.3 or later.</li><li>Fixes some issues with passing structs between Python and Objective-C.</li><li>Uses the Panther version of <code><span>NSKeyValueCoding</span></code>, the Jaguar version is still
supported.</li><li>method <code><span>updateNSString</span></code> of <code><span>objc.pyobjc_unicode</span></code> is deprecated, use
create a new unicode object using <code><span>unicode(mutableStringInstance)</span></code> instead.</li><li>NSAppleEventDescriptor bridged to Carbon.AE</li><li>LibFFI is used more aggressivly, this should have no user-visible effects
other than fixing a bug related to key-value observing.</li><li>Adds a number of new Examples:<ul><li>OpenGLDemo<p>Shows how to use OpenGL with PyObjC</p></li><li>SillyBallsSaver<p>Shows how to write a screensaver in Python. Requires a framework install
of Python (that is, MacOS X 10.3 or MacPython 2.3 on MacOS X 10.2).</p></li><li>Twisted/WebServicesTool<p>Shows how to integrate Twisted (1.1 or later) with Cocoa, it is a
refactor of the WebServicesTool example that is made much simpler
by using Twisted.</p></li><li>Twisted/WebServicesTool-ControllerLayer<p>Shows how to integrate Twisted (1.1 or later) with Cocoa, it is a
refactor of the WebServicesTool example that is made much simpler
by using Twisted as it does not need threads. This one also uses
NSController and therefore requires MacOS X 10.3.</p></li></ul></li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-0-2003-09-21">Version 1.0 (2003-09-21)</a></h2><ul><li>This version includes a new version of libffi that properly deals with
complex types on MacOS X.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-0rc3-2003-09-14">Version 1.0rc3 (2003-09-14)</a></h2><ul><li>1.0rc2 didn't include the nibclassbuilder script</li><li>Fix bug in NSRectFillList</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-0rc2-2003-09-10">Version 1.0rc2 (2003-09-10)</a></h2><ul><li>Fix a number of bugs found in 1.0rc1.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-0rc1-2003-08-10">Version 1.0rc1 (2003-08-10)</a></h2><ul><li>Better support for the NSKeyValueCoding protocol. The module
<code><span>PyObjCTools.KeyValueCoding</span></code> provides a python interface that makes it
possible to use key-value coding with python objects as well as
Objective-C objects. Key-Value Coding also works as one would expect with
Python objects when accessing them from Objective-C (both for plain Python
objects and Python/Objective-C hybrid objects).</li><li>objc.pyobjc_unicode objects are now pickled as unicode objects, previously
the couldn't be pickled or were pickled as incomplete objects (protocol
version 2).</li><li>Pickling of ObjC objects never worked, we now explicitly throw an exception
if you try to pickle one: pickle protocol version 2 silently wrote the
incomplete state of objects to the pickle.</li><li>The default repr() of ObjC objects is now the result of a call to the
<code><span>description</span></code> method. This method is not called for unitialized objects,
because that might crash the interpreter; we use a default implementation
in that case.</li><li>A minor change to the conversion rule for methods with output arguments
(pointers to values in ObjC, where the method will write through the pointer).
If the method has 'void' as its return type, we used to return a tuple where
the first value is always None. This first element is no longer included,
furthermore if the method has only 1 output argument we no longer return
a tuple but return the output value directly (again only if the method has
'void' as its return type).<p>This is a backward incompatible change, but there are not many of such
methods.</p></li><li>Another backward incompatible change is a minor cleanup of the names in
the <code><span>objc</span></code> module. The most significant of these is the change from
<code><span>recycle_autorelease_pool</span></code> to <code><span>recycleAutoreleasePool</span></code>. The other
changed names are internal to the bridge and should not be used in other
code.</li><li>The interface of Foundation.NSFillRects changed, it now has an interface
that is consistent with the rest of the bridge.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-1-0b1-2003-07-05">Version 1.0b1 (2003-07-05)</a></h2><ul><li>More tutorials<p>Two new tutorials were added: 'Adding Python code to an existing ObjC
application' and 'Understanding existing PyObjC examples'. The former
explains how you can use Python to add new functionality to an already
existing Objective-C application, the latter explains how to understand
PyObjC programs written by other people.</p></li><li>More examples<p>Three examples were added: DotView, ClassBrowser and PythonBrowser,
respectively showing the use of a custom NSView, NSBrowser and
NSOutlineView. PythonBrowser is reusable, making it trivial to add an
object browser to your application.</p></li><li>Support for MacOS X 10.1<p>It is now possible to build PyObjC on MacOS X 10.1, with full access to
the Cocoa API's on that platform.</p><p>Note: The port to MacOS X 10.1 is not as well supported as the 10.2 port.
The developers do not have full-time access to a MacOS X 10.1 system.</p></li><li>Support for the WebKit framework, included with Safari 1.0.<p>If you build PyObjC from source you will have to build on a system that has
the WebKit SDK installed to make use of this. Note that the additional
functionality will only be usuable on systems that have Safari 1.0 installed,
however as long as you don't use the additional functionality it is safe
to run a 'WebKit-enabled' PyObjC on systems without Safari 1.0.</p></li><li>It is no longer necessary to specify which protocols are implemented by<p>a class, this information is automaticly deduced from the list of implemented
methods. You'll still a runtime error if you implement some methods of a
protocol and one of the unimplemented methods is required.</p></li><li>Support for &quot;toll-free bridging&quot; of Carbon.CF types to Objective-C objects.<p>It is now possible to use instances of Carbon.CF types in places where
Objective-C objects are expected. And to explicitly convert between the two.</p><p>Note: this requires Python 2.3.</p></li><li>Better integration with MacPython 2.3:<ul><li><code><span>NSMovie.initWithMovie_</span></code> and <code><span>NSMovie.QTMovie</span></code> now use <code><span>QT.Movie</span></code>objects instead of generic pointer wrappers.</li><li><code><span>NSWindow.initWithWindowRef_</span></code> and <code><span>Window.windowRef</span></code> now use
<code><span>Carbon.Window</span></code> objects instead of generic pointer wrappers.</li><li>Methods returning CoreFoundation objects will return MacPython objects,
and likewise, methods with CoreFoundation arguments will accept MacPython
objects.</li></ul></li><li>It is now possible to write plugin bundles, such as preference panes for
use in System Preferences, in Python. See Examples/PrefPanes for an example
of this feature.</li><li>The methods <code><span>pyobjcPopPool</span></code> and <code><span>pyobjcPushPool</span></code> of <code><span>NSAutoreleasePool</span></code>are deprecated. These were introduced when PyObjC did not yet support the
usual method for creating autorelease pools and are no longer necessary.</li><li>Improved unittests, greatly increasing the confidence in the correctness
of the bridge.</li><li>All suppport for non-FFI builds has been removed.</li><li>Object state is completely stored in the Objective-C object. This has no
user-visible effects, but makes the implementation a lot easier to
comprehend and maintain.</li><li>As part of the previous item we also fixed a bug that allowed addition of
attributes to Objective-C objects. This was never the intention and had
very odd semantics. Pure Objective-C objects not longer have a __dict__.</li><li>Weakrefs are no longer used in the implementation of the bridge. Because
the weakrefs to proxy objects isn't very useful the entire feature has
been removed: It is no longer possible to create weakrefs to Objective-C
objects.<p>NOTE: You could create weakrefs in previous versions, but those would
expire as soon as the last reference from Python died, <i>not</i> when the
Objective-C object died, therefore code that uses weakrefs to Objective-C
objects is almost certainly incorrect.</p></li><li>Added support for custom conversion for pointer types. The end result is that
we support more Cocoa APIs without special mappings.</li><li>The generator scripts are automaticly called when building PyObjC. This
should make it easier to support multiple versions of MacOS X.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-9-may-02-2003">Version 0.9 (May-02-2003)</a></h2><ul><li>This version includes numerous bugfixes and improvements.</li><li>The module AppKit.NibClassBuilder has been moved to the package
PyObjCTools.</li><li>Usage of libFFI (<ahref="http://sources.redhat.com/libffi">http://sources.redhat.com/libffi</a>) is now mandatory. The
setup.py gives the impression that it isn't, but we do <i>not</i> support
non-FFI builds.</li><li>We actually have some documentation, more will be added in future releases.</li><li>There are more Project Builder templates (see 'Project Templates').</li><li>The InterfaceBuilder, PreferencePanes and ScreenSaver frameworks have been
wrapped.</li><li>Management of reference counts is now completely automatic, it is no longer
necessary to manually compensate for the higher reference count of objects
returned by the alloc, copy and copyWithZone: class methods.</li><li>Various function and keyword arguments have been renamed for a better
integration with Cocoa. A partial list is of the changed names is:<pre>objc.lookup_class -&gt; objc.lookUpClass
objc.selector arguments/attributes:
is_initializer -&gt; isInitializer
is_allocator -&gt; isAlloc
donates_ref -&gt; doesDonateReference
is_required -&gt; isRequired
class_method -&gt; isClassMethod
defining_class -&gt; definingClass
returns_self -&gt; returnsSelf
argument_types -&gt; argumentTypes
return_type -&gt; returnType
objc.get_class_list -&gt; objc.getClassList
</pre></li><li>On Python 2.2, objc.YES and objc.NO are instances of a private boolean type,
on Python 2.3 these are instances of the builtin type bool.</li><li>Because we now use libFFI a large amount of code could be disabled. The
binaries are therefore much smaller, while we can now forward messages with
arbitrary signatures (not limited to those we thought of while generating
the static proxies that were used in 0.8)</li><li>Better support for APIs that use byte arrays are arguments or return values.
Specifically, the developer can now manipulate bitmaps directly via the
NSBitmapImageRep class, work with binary data through the NSData class, and
very quickly draw points and rects via NSRectFillList()</li><li>We added a subclass of unicode that is used to proxy NSString values. This
makes it easily possible to use NSString values with Python APIs, while at
the same time allowing access to the full power of NSString.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-8-dec-10-2002">Version 0.8 (Dec-10-2002)</a></h2><ul><li>GNUStep support has been removed for lack of support. Volunteers
needed.</li><li>Subclassing Objective-C classes from Python, including the addition
of instance variables (like 'IBOutlet's)</li><li>Generic support for pass-by-reference arguments</li><li>More complete Cocoa package, including wrappers for a number of
C functions, enumerated types, and globals.</li><li>More example code</li><li>Objective-C mappings and sequences can be accessed using the normal
python methods for accessing mappings and sequences (e.g. subscripting
works as expected)</li><li>Documentation: See the directory 'docs'</li><li>Can build standalone Cocoa applications based entirely on Python
without requiring that user installs anything extra (requires 10.2).</li><li>Better packaging and wrapper construction tools (borrowed from
MacPython).</li><li>An installer package.</li><li>Support for Project Builder based Cocoa-Python projects.</li><li>Unit tests.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-2002-01-30-january-30-2002">Version 2002-01-30 (January 30, 2002)</a></h2><ul><li>Version bumped to 0.6.1 ( __version__ is now a PyString )</li><li>Will now build for Python 2.2</li><li>added Cocoa package with Foundation.py and AppKit.py wrappers.</li><li>HelloWorld.py in Examples</li><li>builds with -g flag for debugging. -v option will dump log
of message sends to /tmp file.</li><li>Fixed one major runtime bug: added ISCLASS test before isKindOfClass -
without check, it crashes on sends to abstract classes like NSProxy.</li><li>There are still problems with Delegates and Notifications.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-2001-03-17-march-17-2001">Version 2001-03-17 (March 17, 2001)</a></h2><ul><li>moved to using distutils setup.py (requires small patch to distutils
that has been submitted against python 2.1b1)</li></ul><h2><aname="version-2000-11-14-november-14-2000">Version 2000-11-14 (November 14, 2000)</a></h2><ul><li>GNU_RUNTIME is likely completely broken</li><li>Compiles on Mac OS X Server (python 2.0)</li><li>Compiles on Mac OS X (python 2.0)</li><li>Works as either a dynamically loadable module or statically built
into a python executable</li><li>Requires a modified makesetup to work [patches have been sent to
SourceForge.net's Python project].</li><li>Supports NSAutoReleasepool.</li><li>Some pre-OSX stuff removed; references to old APIs, etc... (but
nowhere near clean)</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-55-18-august-1998">Version 0.55, 18 August 1998</a></h2><ul><li>Here again, supporting GNU_RUNTIME and GNUstep Base! On my new Linux
box I can finally test the module against them: I installed the
latest snapshot of gstep-core, that contains the base library
too. Given a sane GNUstep env (GNUSTEP_XXX env vars), you should be
able to build a static ObjC-ized interpreter by:<pre>o Adjusting Setup, commenting out NeXT definition and enabling GNU
ones;
o make -f Makefile.pre.in boot
o make static
</pre></li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-54-24-march-1998">Version 0.54, 24 March 1998</a></h2><ul><li>OC_Pasteboard.[hm], OC_Stream.[mh] and ObjCStreams.m are definitively gone.</li><li>OC_PythonObject derives from NSProxy.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-53-4-january-1998">Version 0.53, 4 January 1998</a></h2><ul><li>Tons of changes, retargeting the core functionality around the
OpenSTEP API. This release basically matches the previous one
in terms of functionalities, but is should be closer to GNUstep.</li><li>OC_Streams and OC_Pasteboard aren't supported, I've not yet decided
if they are needed anymore.</li><li>Updated LittleButtonedWindow demo.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-47-29-october-1996">Version 0.47, 29 October 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Misc/Makefile.pre.in automatically sets TARGET to <code><span>pyobjc</span></code>.</li><li>ObjC.m splitted to ObjCObject.m ObjCMethod.m ObjCPointer.m
ObjCRuntime.m.</li><li>New (almost invisible) types: ObjCSequenceObject and
ObjCMappingObject; this to implement sequence and mapping syntax
(several mapping methods have stub implementation).</li><li>OC_Pasteboard class is gone. Its functionalities are now in a
category of Pasteboard/NSPasteboard.</li><li>Better methods doc.</li><li>PyArg_ParseTuple format strings contain arguments names.</li><li>OC_Streams are mapped to ObjCStreams by pythonify_c_value and its
counterpart.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-46-18-october-1996">Version 0.46, 18 October 1996</a></h2><ul><li>OC_Stream is now a subclass of NSData under Foundation.</li><li>New Objective-C class: OC_Pasteboard. Use it instead of Pasteboard/
NSPasteboard.</li><li>New Objective-C class: OC_PythonBundle. Use it instead of NXBundle/NSBundle.
The ShellText demo has been upgraded to use it, and now you can run it
directly from the WorkSpace.</li><li>OC_Python.[hm] aren't in the package anymore.</li><li>Setup.in directives changed again, due to OC_Python.m dropping.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-45-14-october-1996">Version 0.45, 14 October 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Double syntax: to make it easier for us to test and choose the
better candidate, the only one that will be present in the final 1.0
release. Keeping both would result in a speed penality.</li><li>Revisited streams, in particular GNUstep support.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-44-9-october-1996">Version 0.44, 9 October 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Integers are now accepted too where floats or doubles are expected.</li><li>New method: ObjC.make_pointer (1) returns an ObjCPointer containing
<code><span>((void</span><span>*)</span><span>1)</span></code>.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-43-7-october-1996">Version 0.43, 7 October 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Completed ObjCStream implementation. There is now a new module, ObjCStreams
which is automatically loaded by ObjC. You can access it as ObjC.streams.</li><li>Manual splitted in three parts: libPyObjC.tex with the chapter intro,
libObjC.tex describing the main module, libObjCStreams.tex explains the
stream facilities.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-42-4-october-1996">Version 0.42, 4 October 1996</a></h2><ul><li>You can pass initialization arguments when using the <code><span>Class()</span></code> syntax. You
select the right initializer selector with the <code><span>init</span></code> keyword parameter.</li><li>First cut on ObjCStream objects. Thanx to Bill Bumgarner for motivations.</li><li>New demo ShellText, to test above points.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-41-2-october-1996">Version 0.41, 2 October 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Revised error messages: for arguments type mismatch they show the ObjC type
expected.</li><li>When a method returns a pointer to something, it gets translated as an
ObjCPointer object, not the pythonified pointed value. When a method
expects a pointer argument, it accepts such an object as well.</li><li>New demo: Fred. To halt it, suspend the Python process with ^Z then kill
it ;-).</li><li>Setup.in directives changed. See the new file Modules/Setup.PyObjC.in</li><li>Distribuited as a standalone package. Special thanks to Bill Bumgarner.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-4-27-september-1996">Version 0.4, 27 September 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Now handles methods returning doubles or floats.</li><li>ObjCRuntime responds to .sel_is_mapped().</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-31-26-september-1996">Version 0.31, 26 September 1996</a></h2><ul><li>It's now possible to use a different strategy to map ObjC method names to
Python ones. Sooner or later we should decide the one to go, and drop the
other. For details, see comments on PYTHONIFY_WITH_DOUBLE_UNDERSCORE in
objc_support.h.</li><li>Manual section.</li><li>ObjC.runtime.__dict__ added.</li><li>ObjC.runtime.kind added.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-3-20-september-1996">Version 0.3, 20 September 1996</a></h2><ul><li>No user visible changes, just a little effort towards GNU_RUNTIME support.</li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-2-16-september-1996">Version 0.2, 16 September 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Accepts a struct.pack() string for pointer arguments, but...</li><li>... New methods on ObjCMethod: .pack_argument and .unpack_argument:
these should be used whenever an ObjC method expects a passed-by-reference
argument; for example, on NeXTSTEP [View getFrame:] expects a pointer
to an NXRect structure, that it will fill with the current frame of the
view: in this case you should use something similar to:<pre>framep = aView.getFrame__.pack_argument (0)
aView.getFrame__ (framep)
frame = aView.getFrame__.unpack_argument (0, framep)
</pre></li></ul><h2><aname="version-0-1-13-september-1996">Version 0.1, 13 September 1996</a></h2><ul><li>Correctly handle pointer arguments.</li><li>New syntax to get a class: ObjC.runtime.NameOfClass</li><li>New syntax aliasing .new(): SomeClass()</li><li>New Demo: LittleButtonedWindow, that tests points above.</li><li>What follow is the recipe to get PyObjC dynamically loadable on NeXTSTEP:<ul><li>apply the patch in Misc/INSTALL.PyObjC to Python/importdl.c</li><li>modify Python/Makefile adding the switch <code><span>-ObjC</span></code> to the importdl.o
build rule:<pre>importdl.o: importdl.c
$(CC) -ObjC -c $(CFLAGS) -I$(DLINCLDIR) $(srcdir)/importdl.c
</pre></li><li>modify Modules/Setup moving the PyObjC entry suggested above AFTER
<code><span>*shared*</span></code>, and remove <code><span>-u</span><span>libNeXT_s</span><span>-lNeXT_s</span></code> from it.</li><li>run <code><span>make</span></code>: this will update various files, in particular
Modules/Makefile.</li><li>modify Modules/Makefile adding <code><span>-u</span><span>libNeXT_s</span><span>-lNeXT_s</span></code> to SYSLIBS:<pre>SYSLIBS= $(LIBM) $(LIBC) -u libNeXT_s -lNeXT_s
</pre></li><li>run <code><span>make</span></code> again</li></ul></li></ul></body></html>